Prized recruit Simmons cleared just in time for 2011 season

Delvon Simmons was sitting in a team meeting Wednesday morning when he received the news he'd been waiting for all through August. Texas Tech coach Tommy Tuberville and Andy Lutz, an assistant athletic director for football, came in and told Simmons he'd been approved by the NCAA to play for the Red Raiders this season.

Delvon Simmons was sitting in a team meeting Wednesday morning when he received the news he’d been waiting for all through August. Texas Tech coach Tommy Tuberville and Andy Lutz, an assistant athletic director for football, came in and told Simmons he’d been approved by the NCAA to play for the Red Raiders this season.

“I was excited about it,” said Simmons, a highly touted defensive tackle from McKeesport, Pa. “Everybody clapped for me. We had to tell our little story or whatever in the meeting. I told them about it, told them what had happened and then everybody clapped and was happy for me.”

Simmons was allowed to practice with the Red Raiders from the time they started on Aug. 6, but his approval to play was being reviewed by the NCAA Clearinghouse and then the NCAA Waiver Committee, Tuberville said.

“It was stressful,” Simmons said. “Just thinking about it, thinking about playing football, thinking if I was going through all this for nothing. It was stressful.”

Simmons was ranked among the top 50 recruits in the nation last winter by the Scout.com recruiting service and among the top 100 in the nation by Rivals.com.

Tuberville said he noticed a difference in Simmons when the team scrimmaged Wednesday.

“He’s a Red Raider a hundred percent now,” Tuberville said. “I think the pressure’s off him. He’s going to be a heck of a football player. I think he even practiced better today knowing he was going to be here for sure.”

Tuberville said he thought Simmons could play 15 to 20 snaps a game starting out.

Donald Langley and Kerry Hyder seem set as Tech’s first-team defensive tackles going into the Sept. 3 season opener against Texas State. Dennell Wesley and Pearlie Graves have been working behind Langley at nose tackle. Chris Perry and Simmons have been working behind Hyder at a 3-technique, or weak side, defensive tackle.

“We’re in pretty good shape depth-wise,” Tuberville said. “Right now, we just got to find out who the two-deep is. He’s got to get in shape. He’s not even close to it, because he wasn’t here in the summer. So every day he’s been out here has been real good.”

The 6-foot-5 Simmons weighed in Wednesday at 286 pounds, which is down from nearly 300 earlier this year. He said the 21/2 weeks he’s spent practicing with the team have been productive.

“I think I got stronger,” he said. “I was out of shape coming in. Every time we had to run, I was like, ‘Oh, God.’ Now it’s getting easier and easier. As I run more, I get used to my shoulder pads and stuff.”

Simmons signed in February with North Carolina, then quickly had a change of heart and sought and received a release from his scholarship. He announced his plans on April 14 to transfer to Tech, which was one of his final choices before national signing day.

Last spring, Tuberville said Simmons projects as both a pass rusher and a run stopper. The Red Raiders’ conversion from a 3-4 defense to a 4-2-5 is good timing for Simmons, Tuberville said, because he’s better suited for a four-man front than playing noseguard in a three-man front.

Once Simmons gets in better shape, Tuberville said he can be an every-down player who doesn’t have to come off the field based on situation.

Waiting on the NCAA to make him a full-fledged member of the team was the tricky part.

“A relief,” Tuberville said. “I hadn’t understood it the whole time, but what else is new when you’re dealing with folks up north? It worked out. It should have been worked out a long time ago, because he did everything he needed to do. But you’ve got to go through the proper channels. There’s a lot of red tape that we had to work through. A lot of people did a good job of helping in terms of getting our message over.”